Polyurethane elastomers are known to have been employed in the construction of industrial rollers, such as paper machine press rolls and paper machine belts. The polyurethane elastomers are often the product of a reaction between a polyurethane prepolymer and a curing agent. The polyurethane prepolymer is typically made by combining a polyol, typically a Poly (tetra methylene) ether glycol (PTMEG) with an isocyanate. The curing agent is often either a diamine or a short chain diol. Polyurethane elastomers have been selected for use in paper machine press rolls and belts because they exhibit advantages in load bearing capability and abrasion resistance over natural and synthetic rubber materials; this is particularly important for paper mill rolls and belts, where they experience high dynamic loads. However, in some papermaking machines, the rolls and belts are also exposed to high moisture and elevated temperatures. PTMEG may be prone to thermo oxidative decomposition and may have low chemical resistance and low resistance to hydrolysis at high temperatures. Thus, these conditions can cause melting or debonding of the PTMEG based polyurethane, which reduces the part life and also limits working temperature.
Therefore, there is a need for paper mill equipment, such as paper machine press rolls and paper machine belts which can better withstand the conditions of a paper mill.